a different head-dress in each figure; in
one he has a short wig, in the other a skullcap.

[Illustration: 320.jpg STATUE OF MERA]

When the Herakleopolite dominion was finally overthrown, in spite of the
valiant resistance of the princes of Asyut, and the Thebans assumed the
Pharaonic dignity, thus founding the XIth Dynasty, the Theban necropolis
was situated in the great bay in the cliffs, immediately north of Shekh
Abd el-Kurna, which is known as Der el-Bahari. In this picturesque part
of Western Thebes, in many respects perhaps the most picturesque
place in Egypt, the greatest king of the XIth Dynasty, Neb-hapet-Ra
Mentuhetep, excavated his tomb and built for the worship of his ghost
a funerary temple, which he called _Akh-aset_, "Glorious-is-its-
Situation," a name fully justified by its surroundings. This temple is
an entirely new discovery, made by Prof. Naville and Mr. Hall in 1903.
The results obtained up to date have been of very great importance,
especially with regard to the history of Egyptian art and architecture,
for our sources of information were few and we were previously not very
well informed as to the condition of art in the time of the XIth
Dynasty.

The new temple lies immediately to the south of the great XVIIIth
Dynasty temple at Der el-Bahari, which has always been known, and which
was excavated first by Mariette and later by Prof. Naville, for the
Egypt Exploration Fund. To the results of the later excavations we shall
return. When they were finally completed, in the year 1898, the great
XVIIIth Dynasty temple, which was built by Queen Hatshepsu, had been
entirely cleared of debris, and the colonnades had been partially
restored (under the care of Mr. Somers Clarke) in order to make a roof
under which to protect the sculptures on the walls. The whole mass of
debris, consisting largely of fallen _talus_ from the cliffs above,
which had almost hidden the temple, was removed; but a large tract lying
to the south of the temple, which was also covered with similar mounds
of debris, was not touched, but remained to await further investigation.
It was here, beneath these heaps of debris, that the new temple was
found when work was resumed by the Egypt Exploration Fund in 1903. The
actual tomb of the king has not yet been revealed, although that of
Neb-hetep Mentuhetep, who may have been his immediate predecessor,
was discovered by Mr. Carter in 1899. It was known, however, and still
uninjured in